CHARLESTON, S.C. — A former Charleston resident is coordinating relief efforts in Sri Lanka after a cyclone killed 355 people and left even more missing over the weekend.
Stephanie De Silva, who lived in Charleston for three years and worked at the Medical University of South Carolina, is now in her home country helping with disaster response. The United States has committed $2 million to support relief efforts for the South Asian island nation.
“The waters keep rising, so right now the government has evacuated all the people around those areas,” De Silva said.
Widespread destruction across island nation
Sri Lanka’s president called the nationwide flooding the largest and most challenging natural disaster in the island’s history. The United Nations said 15,000 homes have been destroyed, according to an initial assessment on Sunday.
“There were some warnings that something was going to happen, but we did not expect something so big to happen,” De Silva said.
Entire towns are underwater in parts of Sri Lanka. Photos show landslides and widespread damage, leaving thousands displaced.
Charleston connections mobilize aid
De Silva and her family have been collecting dry food and clothes, working with their village to gather supplies and fill two large trucks.
“Those trucks left this afternoon for the upstate, to distribute all the goods we collected,” De Silva said.
Friends from MUSC are working to collect donations. De Silva is buying food with the donations and has a goal of making 1,500 home-cooked meals with her family.
Mental health support planned
De Silva, who worked in MUSC’s psychiatric unit as a therapeutic assistant, plans to provide mental health support to disaster victims.
“My plan is to go to those areas and help people in person, talk to them,” De Silva said. “They lost the place they lived for so many years, people lost loved ones, so it must be very hard for them. I can’t imagine how they’re living in this situation right now.”
Toschua Thomas, a clinical staff leader at MUSC, said De Silva is transferring her Charleston experience to her home country.
“It’s really amazing to see how she has taken that role here and she is translating it over to Sri Lanka to make mental health more acceptable and more known,” Thomas said.
Emergency management lessons
Kimberly Bailey, system executive director of emergency management at MUSC Health, said natural disasters require coordinated response efforts.
“Trying to figure out what are the resources that I need to handle this, starting at the local level? Everything we say in emergency management, everything starts and ends locally,” Bailey said.
Bailey said preparation is key for emergency management and advocates for more families to discuss emergency planning.
“I think that it is the secret that no one ever talks about. It’s really important for communities to understand that there is an emergency management department wherever you are, whether it’s a city or county or state, you have folks that are constantly worrying about you and planning for your safety,” Bailey said.
